Tasmanian bryophyta-Part 1

The Tasmanian Bryophyta have received a considerable amount of attention by both collectors and specialists, and the results of their labours are recorded in many different publications. Only two efforts have been made to compile the descriptions, first, in Hooker's noble "Flora Tasmaniae," published very many years ago, and, second, in Bastows excellent little Handbooks of the Mosses and Hepatics. Unfortunately, many errors have crept in, and plants have been recorded as Tasmanian that probably do not live here. Also the treatment of this group has undergone considerable revision since these publications. The peristome has lost much of its charm for taxonomists, and more attention is paid to habit and structural features. But the principal reason why a revision of the group is at present justified is because the persistent labour of W. A. Weymouth has added about a hundred and fifty new species to our list; besides which he has submitted his large collection to European experts: the Hepatics to Stephani, the Sphagna to Warnstoft, Ortnotrica to Venturi, and the rest to V. F. Brotherus. It seemed a pity such splendid work should be unavailable for the local student, and as Mr. Weymouth is indisposed to undertake it, the following articles are produced with his full consent.